Container securing means for a transport carrier with latch variably pivoted to accommodate different clearances

ABSTRACT

A spring biased latch lever is variably pivoted on the housing of container securing means on a transport carrier to accommodate minimum and maximum clearances between the container securing means and the bottom container fitting mounted thereon.

United States Patent [1 1 Sweger Nov. 27, 1973 CONTAINER SECURING MEANSFOR A TRANSPORT CARRIER WITH LATCH VARIABLY PIVOTED TO ACCOMMODATEDIFFERENT CLEARANCES Theodore J. Sweger, Lake Worth,

Fla.

Assignee: Illinois Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, 111.

Filed: Sept. 21, 1972 Appl. No.: 290,998

lnventor:

US. Cl. 105/366 C, 248/361 R Int. Cl 860p 7/08, B65j 1/22 Field ofSearch 105/366 C;

248/361 R, 119 R; 296/35 A; 280/179 R References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 9/1971 Smith 105/366 C 9/1971 Sweger 105/366 C 6/1972 Sweger[OS/366C Primary ExaminerDrayton E. Hoffman Att0rneyRobert R. Lockwood[57] ABSTRACT A spring biased latch lever is variably pivoted on thehousing of container securing means on a transport carrier toaccommodate minimum and maximum clearances between the containersecuring means and the bottom container fitting mounted thereon.

5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PAIENTED NOV 27 4975 SHEE 2 OF 5PATENTEDNUVZ? I973 3.774.551 SHEET BF 5 CONTAINER SECURING MEANS FOR ATRANSPORT'CARRIER WITII LATCH VARIABLY PIVOTED T ACCOMMODATE DIFFERENTCLEARANCES This invention constitutes an improvement over theconstruction disclosed in Smith U.S. Pat. No. 3,604,363, issued Sept.14, 1971 and makes use of the construction disclosed in Sweger U.S. Pat.No. 3,604,364, issued Sept. 14, 1971.

The construction disclosed in the above Smith patent employs a springbiased follower slidably mounted on a container latch housing forengagement with a bottom container fitting likely to have a range ofclearances with the housing depending upon the spacing of the housingson opposite sides of the transport carrier relative to the spacing ofthe bottom container fittings on opposite sides of the container. Alatch is pivotally mounted on each follower for automatic latchingengagement with and unlatching disengagement from each bottom containerfitting. The provision of the follower increases the cost and complexityof the container support in which it is incorporated. In addition thefollower constitutes an added part that can get out of order andrequires one or more springs for its operation.

Among the objects of this invention are: To avoid the use of thefollower of the above Smith patent; to variably pivot the latch on thehousing of each container support to accommodate a range of clearancesbetween each container support and the bottom container fitting mountedthereon; and to provide a slot in a latch lever of the first classhaving an ogee bottom surface for receivinga transverse pin mounted onthe housing for shifting the latch lever toan unlatching position onupward movement of a container from the container support at or adjacenta location where there is minimum clearance between the containersupport and the bottom container fitting individual thereto.

In the drawings FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a portion of a transportcarrier, such as a railway flat car.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the lower comer portion of a rectangularcontainer that is to be mounted on and transported by'the transportcarrier shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the deck of the transport carrier, atan enlarged scale, and shows container securing means in which thisinvention is embodied.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the construction shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a view showing the deck in section and the container means inside elevation looking from right to left of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken generally along line 66 ofFIG. 5 and shows the relation between the container securing means andthe container with the latter having a maximum clearance between thebottom container fitting and the respective container securing means.

FIG. 7 is a view, similar to FIG. 6, but showing the container fittinghaving a minimum clearance between it and the container securing means.

FIG. 8 is a view, similar to FIG. 7, and shows the container beinglifted from the container securing means.

FIG. 9 is a view, similar to FIG. 8, and shows the relation between thecontainer fitting and the container'securing means on further upwardmovement of the container.

In FIG. 1 reference character 10 designates, generally, a portion of atransport carrier, such as a railway flat car, that is provided with afloor or deck 1 1 usually formed of sheet steel. Along opposite sidesare lengthwise extending slots 12 provided with transverse openings 13at their ends. Pairs of notches 14 are provided along the slots 12 forreceiving shear lugs 15, FIG. 3, that extend upwardly from wings 16 thatextend laterally from an extension 17 of a housing that is indicated,generally, at 18 and forms a part of container securing means orcontainer support means that is indicated, generally, at 19. Referencecan be had to my copending application, Ser. No. 276,672, filed July 3l,1972 for a more complete disclosure of the construction and arrangementof the housing 18 and its relation to the 7 pairs of notches 14.

The transport carrier 10 is arranged to have mounted thereon fortransport one or more rectangular containscribed, in side walls 25. Endvertical slots 26 are provided in end walls 27 and bottom slots 28 areprovided in bottom walls 29. The width of the rectangular container 22or the distance between the side walls 25 is indicated at 30. Ordinarilythe distance '30 does not vary to any great extent from container tocontainer.

In FIG. 1 the distance between the lengthwise extending slots 12 isindicated at 33. Because of variations in car construction the distance33 may vary as much as 1 inch or there may be aclearance of one-halfinch between each of the side walls 25 and the associated side wall ofthe respective container securing means 19. Such clearance may be due tofaulty car construction or to wear of the container securing means 19and the slots 12. Because of excessive clearance empty containers may beblown off of the transport carrier 10 or may be bounced in Smith U.S.Pat. No. 3,604,363, above referred to. Another solution to this problemis disclosed herein.

Referring now particularly to FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 it will be observed thatthe housing 18 is provided with a seat 34 for receiving the respectivecontainer fitting 23. Extending upwardly from the seat 34 are a sidewall 35 and a right angularly related end wall 36. These walls arearranged to overlie the side walls 25 and end walls 27 of the containerfittings 23. A slot 37 is provided in side wall'35 for receiving theupper end 38 of a lever that is indicated generally at 39 and is of thefirst class.

The lever 39 is arranged to pivot about one or the other of two axesthat are provided by an upper pin 40 that is relatively short andextends through wall sections 41, FIG. 5, and a lower pin 42 that isrelatively long and extends through wall sections 43 of the housing 18.It will be understood that the pins 40 and 42 are relativelystacompression spring 49 is arranged to bias the lever 39 in a clockwisedirection so as to bring a nose portion 50 on the upper end 38 intolatching engagement with the respective outside vertical slot 24 of theassociated container fitting 23. The nose portion 50 has a strikersurface 51 that is downwardly inclined and curved to be engaged by alower comer 52 of the container fitting 23 when the container 22 islowered unto the container securing means 19 for displacing the upperend 38 of the lever 39. The downward movement continues until the bottomwall 29 of the container fitting 23 rests upon the seat 34, as indicatedin FIG. 6, whereupon the nose portion 50 moves through the respectivevertical slot 24 and into latching engagement with the container fitting23. The nose portion 50 has a latching under surface 53 that is inclinedupwardly from the horizontal at an angle of about 7 and is arranged tooverlie a bottom surface 54 of the respective outside vertical slot 24in the container fitting 23 as shown more clearly in FIG. 6 of thedrawings.

The relation between the lever 39 and its pivotal mounting on the upperpin 40 is of particular importance in view of the fact that thisrelationship makes it possible to accommodate a fairly wide range ofclearances between the container fittings 23 and the respectivecontainer securing means 19. As shown more clearly in FIGS. 6, 7, 8 and9 of the drawings the lever 39 has a slot 58 formed therein throughwhich the upper pin 40 extends transversely. The slot 58 has an ogeebottom surface 59 with a concave portion 60 and a convex portion 61.

Referring now particularly to FIG. 6 the maximum clearance that can bepermitted between the side wall of the container fitting 23 and theinner side of the side wall 35 of the housing 18 is indicated at 64. Forexample, the maximum clearance may be of the order of one/half inch. Theextent that the nose portion 50 projects into the vertical slot 24 isindicated at 65. This may be of the order of 1 1/16 inch. It isdesirable that this overlap of the nose portion 50 with respect to thebottom surface 54 be maintained without regard to the variation in theclearance distance 64 in order to maintain proper latching engagementwith the container fittings 23. The distance 65 is measured from theside wall 25 to the tip 66 of the nose portion 50. The movement of thenose portion 50 into the slot 24 is limited by engagement of anoutwardly curved surface 55 on the lever 39 with the side wall'25.

In FIG. 6 it will be observed that the lever 39 is so located that theupper pin 40 is directly above the concave portion 60 of the ogee bottomsurface 59. At 67 there is indicated a false travel distance which meansthat, when the container fitting 23 is moved upwardly and engages thelatching under surface 53 of the nose portion 50, the lever 39 can moveupwardly through this distance. Under these conditions the moment armfor applying a force to shift the lever 39 to the unlatched position isindicated at 68. This is the distance that corresponds to the clearancedistance 64 previously referred to. On continued upward movement of thecontainer fitting 23 sufficient force can be applied readily to overcomethe biasing action of the coil compression spring 48 to pivot the lever39 about the upper pin 40 in a counterclockwise direction and shift thenose portion 50 out of latching position with respect to the verticalslot 24.

FIG. 7 shows the relation between the container fittings 23 and thecontainer securing means 19 or the housing 18 when there is a minimum ofclearance, indicated at 69, between the side wall. 25 and the side wallof the housing 18. Here the lever 39 is shifted to the left from theposition shown in FIG. 6 since the out wardly curved surface 55 engagesthe side wall 25 of the container fitting 23 which is close to the innerside of the side wall 35. There is a corresponding shift in the positionof the slot 58 so that the false travel distance indicated at 70 is muchless than the false travel distance 67 illustrated in FIG. 6. The reasonfor this is that the upper pin overlies the convex portion 61 of theogee bottom surface 59. The corresponding moment arm, indicated at 71,is correspondingly small. Upward movement of the container fitting 23engages the latching under surface 53 of the nose portion 50 at 72.Because of the relatively short moment arm 71, vertical movement of thecontainer fitting 23 causes binding when the force exerted by the coilcompression spring 48 is sufficient to prevent accidental removal of thecontainer 22.

FIG. 8 shows the action that takes place when the container fitting 23is moved upwardly as indicated by arrow 73 when the condition of minimumclearance exists. On continued application of upward force andengagement at 72 with the latching under surface 53 of the nose portion50, the lever 39 is shifted in a counterclockwise direction to theposition shown in FIG. 9 where the convex portion 61 of the ogee bottomsurface 59 has been moved to the right and the concave portion 60 isengaged by the upper pin 40. Engagement with the latching undersurface53 now is at 74. As a result the container fitting 23 cancontinue to move upwardly in the direction indicated by arrow 73 withoutbinding. The pivotable movement of the lever 39 continues on applicationof sufiicient upward force to overcome the biasing action of the coilcompression spring 48. As a result the nose portion 50 is moved out oflatching engagement with the vertical slot 24.

On downward movementof the container fitting 23,

the lower comer 52 of the container fitting 23 engages the strikersurface 51 in a manner previously described. The lever 39 then ispivoted about the lower pin 42 in a counterclockwise direction. Becauseof the relatively short lever arm between the lower pin 42 and thetrunnions 46, the relatively high force exerted by the coil compressionspring 48 is readily overcome in the manner described in my US. Pat. No.3,604,364 above referred to.

I claim:

1. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said bottomcontainer fitting having clearance between said wall and said containersecuring means likely to vary over a relatively wide range from aminimum clearance to a maximum clearance, said container securing meanscomprising housing means for attachment to said transport carrier forunderlying each container fitting, latch means on said housing meansincluding a nose portion for entering said latch receiving opening,means biasing said latch means into latching engagement with said bottomcontainer fitting, and means variably pivoting said latch means on saidhousing means whereby throughout said clearance limits said nose portionenters said latch receiving opening through the same extent.

2. Container securing means according to claim 1 wherein said meansvariably pivoting said latch means on said housing means includes a pinon said housing means extending transversely of said latch means througha slot therein the bottom surface of which is an ogee with the convexportion underlying said pin in the latched position of said latch meanswhen said container fitting is in or adjacent said minimum clearanceposition, said latch means on movement of said bottom container fittingupwardly from said housing in engagement with said pin shifting to bringthe concave portion of said ogee into pivotal engagement with said pinand effect a corresponding withdrawal of said nose portion from saidlatch receiving opening.

3. Container securing means according to claim 1 wherein said latchmeans comprises a lever of the first class with said nose portion at oneend having a downwardly inclined striker surface for engagement by saidbottom container fitting on its downward movement to shift said noseportion out of the downward path of said bottom container fittingagainst the action of said biasing means until said nose portion canenter said latch when said minimum clearance condition is approached toshift the location of the engagement by said bottom container fittingwith said under surface toward the distal end of said nose portion tofacilitate movement of said nose portion out of latching engagement withsaid bottom container fitting.

4. Container securing means according to claim 3 wherein said biasingmeans reacts against the other end of said lever, and means pivotallyengage said lever in spaced relation to said means variably pivotingsaid lever and adjacent the reaction area of said biasing meanstherewith about which said lever pivots when said bottom containerfitting moves downwardly and enagages said striker surface.

5. Container securing means according to claim 4 wherein said latchingunder surface being inclined upwardly from the horizontal at an acuteangle.

1. Container securing means for a transport carrier arranged to securethereto one or more containers each having at least one bottom containerfitting with a latch receiving opening in a wall thereof, said bottomcontainer fitting having clearance between said wall and said containersecuring means likely to vary over a relatively wide range from aminimum clearance to a maximum clearance, said container securing meanscomprising housing means for attachment to said transport carrier forunderlying each container fitting, latch means on said housing meansincluding a nose portion for entering said latch receiving opening,means biasing said latch means into latching engagement with said bottomcontainer fitting, and means variably pivoting said latch means on saidhousing means whereby throughout said clearance limits said nose portionenters said latch receiving opening through the same extent. 2.Container securing means according to claim 1 wherein said meansvariably pivoting said latch means on said housing means includes a pinon said housing means extending transversely of said latch means througha slot therein the bottom surface of which is an ogee with the convexportion underlying said pin in the latched position of said latch meanswhen said container fitting is in or adjacent said minimum clearanceposition, said latch means on movement of said bottom container fittingupwardly from said housing in engagement with said pin shifting to bringthe concave portion of said ogee into pivotal engagement with said pinand effect a corresponding withdrawal of said nose portion from saidlatch receiving opening.
 3. Container securing means according to claim1 wherein said latch means comprises a lever of the first class withsaid nose portion at one end having a downwardly inclined strikersurface for engagement by said bottom container fitting on its downwardmovement to shift said nose portion out of the downward path of saidbottom container fitting against the action of said biasing means untilsaid nose portion can enter said latch receiving opening, said noseportion having a latching under surface for engagement by said bottomcontainer fitting when it is moved upwardly, said means variablypivoting said latch means being arranged and adapted when said minimumclearance condition is approached to shift the location of theengagement by said bottom container fitting with said under surfacetoward the dIstal end of said nose portion to facilitate movement ofsaid nose portion out of latching engagement with said bottom containerfitting.
 4. Container securing means according to claim 3 wherein saidbiasing means reacts against the other end of said lever, and meanspivotally engage said lever in spaced relation to said means variablypivoting said lever and adjacent the reaction area of said biasing meanstherewith about which said lever pivots when said bottom containerfitting moves downwardly and enagages said striker surface.
 5. Containersecuring means according to claim 4 wherein said latching under surfacebeing inclined upwardly from the horizontal at an acute angle.